The Daughter's Job
by Chasityannmyers
Summary: This Story takes place mid-late season 2.The team doesn't fully trust Tara.The team is taking on a job&ask Sophie for help,they are surprised when Sophie's daughter answers the door.Feel free to review,no haters,will accept love&constructive criticism :
1. Chapter 1

**The Daughter's Job**

**Disclaimer**: I do not own any of the Leverage characters, I just use their names with my ideals to create different stories.

**Author note**: This is my first published fan fiction, I hope you enjoy. This story is from the POV of Morgan Princeton which is a character that is made up from my mind. Enjoy :)

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**Story Setting**: This story takes place during season 2 and gives an explanation to Sophie's absence from the show. Tara is on 'vacation' from the rest of the Leverage crew but they all still end up together.

Knock, Knock..ugh... go away I thought as I heard the pecking at the door, I was in no mood for company. Knock, Knock, again.

"Coming", I yelled out as I rolled myself off the couch, 7:00am, are you serious. It should be illegal to be knocking on someone's door this early in the morning. I knew better than mom being home to get the door, she was already out and about for the day. This better be worth it I thought as I opened the door to be greeted by 3 men and a woman.

"This can't be good" I thought out loud.

After releasing a little chuckle, the front man who seemed to be the leader said, "Hi, I'm Nathan Ford, we are looking for Sophie."

Hum, I thought to myself, mom didn't say anything about expecting any more company; better try to send them on their way.

"I'm sorry, she has already left for the day, if you would like to leave your number I will be more than glad to let her know you stopped by this evening." I had hoped that was enough to send them on their way but I wasn't that lucky.

"Do you know what time she is expected to be back?" The one that called himself Nathan asked.

He's definitely not reluctant. I just wish they would leave so I could try to get back to sleep. I was getting frustrated by now and my niceness was running out, so I replied in a little less than polite tone, "I don't know."

Everyone stood silent for a moment, ARE YOU SERIOUS, what are these people waiting on! Mom was not here and I didn't know when she would be here. I was about to break the silence with 'Thanks for stopping by, I'll give her you message, have a nice day, now get the hell out so I can go back to sleep' but the silence was interrupted by our expected house guest that had spent the night with us.

"Morgan who was at the, Oh. Nate, Parker, Eliot, Hardison. What are you doing here?" Ok so Tara knew these people, so they must not be too bad, but they did not appear to like her.

The others continued to remain silent, it was Nathan, or Nate, as Tara called him that simply answered with one word in an acknowledging tone. "Tara"

"You know them?" I groggily asked Tara. If Tara trust them then mom trust them, then I could trust them and can let them in to wait on mom and finally go back to bed.

"Yeah. Sophie worked with them before she came out here to stay with you. She sent me to work with them when she left." Tara had given me all the information that I needed to know.

"Any friend of my mother's is welcome here, come in and make yourself at home. There's food in the fridge, there's the TV, mom should be home later, I'm going to bed, if you need anything just ask Tara." I shut the door behind everyone and walked off toward my room.

I am generally a nicer person but I don't do nice until at least noon, and generally I wouldn't mind meeting new people, especially people that got to spend time with my mother and whom I knew my mother cared about deeply, but my body was screaming sleep or pass out, and I wanted to at least be comfortable when I was unconscious, the meet and greet would have to come later. Of course my plans never work out and my phone began to ring, so it looks like either way something was going to wake me up. I looked at my phone, mom, how ironic.

"Good morning mother" I said in a 'I'm so freaking happy to be up at this time of the morning' tone.

Mom was grocery shopping, why oh why doesn't she just let me do it instead of calling me when she can't find what she wants. "Mom the crackers are on aisle 5, on the right hand side. The right hand side if you are standing in the front of the store looking back, they are about half way down on the bottom, you see them? Good. No the regular ones will be fine. Just grab whatever mom, we will make it work. Oh by the way hurry up, you have company here, 4 people, one of them goes by the name Nathan Ford. Tara says that you used to work with him."

You would have thought I just told mom that I had ran away because there was nothing but silence.

"Mom, everything ok?" She responded very quickly. "Alright, I'll tell them, see you in a few." As I hung up the phone I relayed the message to everyone else. "Mom is finishing up at the store then she will be heading home, she should be about 30 minutes. In the mean time can I fix you all anything?" I might as well offer because whatever made mom go silent is cause for curiosity and I'm not going back to bed until I find out what is the cause of her odd behavior. All the guest silently let me know with a nod that they did not want anything.

"Tara you want some waffles." I asked, knowing the answer as I pulled out the frozen bag from my freezer.

"Sure." Tara responded and began her rambling with our guest questioning as to why they were here. I noticed that they just answered most of her questions with nods or short answers. The tension was beginning to build, you could feel it. Nate was the one that changed the topic by directing the conversation toward me as I handed Tara her waffles and sat down across the visitors and began eating my breakfast.

"So you are Sophie's daughter?" He questioned as if this news was a shock to him.

"Yes." Short and sweet, what else am I supposed to say, 'yes, I'm her only daughter, my father is William Princeton, I grew up travelling the world with him. We would meet up with mom every few months and we would spend the day shopping and what not. Dad always said that the reason she was always gone was because of work, but I did come to learn that she was just a thief, blah, blah' I don't think so. FINALLY, I thought as I heard something at the door, I sprang up to go help mom with the groceries. She greeted me by a kiss on the cheek and handed over a few bags. "Good morning darling, I noticed you fell asleep on the couch last night."

"Yeah, I fell asleep during a movie." Mom seemed very methodical, she placed the bags on the counter, but was quickly interrupted by the blonde visitor almost charging her to the floor.

"Oh Sophie, I've missed you!" the blonde exclaimed.

"Parker. Oh, I've miss you too." My mother hugged back, by this time the rest of the visitors were around her and all were exchanging hugs and greetings. Everyone pitched in and helped mom put everything away. It was weird, they just seemed like they belonged together, like a family. They were so happy, even mom. She hadn't seemed herself lately, but surrounded by her friends like that she had her glow back. But why did they like mom and not Tara. Sure, Tara is a little more eccentric and odd, but she's still a good person. Mom then proceeded to introduce me to her "other" family.

"Everyone, I would like for you to meet my daughter, Morgan Princeton. She's an art history major at the local college, final year. This is her place. I haven't got to see much of her over the past few years, so I decided, after I toured Europe, to come and spend some time with her. Before you know it she will be graduating college and getting on with her life and having a job and everything to keep her busy. Morgan, these are some very close friends of mine, this is Nate, Parker, Eliot, and Hardison." Mom introduced her friends one by one and we exchanged friendly smiles and the standard etiquette for introductions. I decided to be polite to these people, despite the fact that they woke me up so early, just because my mom seemed to be happy with them. Mom then began sharing with her guest about her travels; I decided that this was my chance to escape to the sweet peacefulness of my bed.

I leaned up against my mom from the back and whispered in her ear, "enjoy your company, they are welcome in my home as long as they want to stay, but I'm going to bed, I will see you when I get back up."

As I walked off toward my room I noticed Tara just sitting and smiling indifferently, clearly feeling left out. I know the feeling. As I surrendered to my pillow only one thought crossed my mind. 'Am I going to lose my mother again?'


	2. Chapter 2

Here it is, chapter 2 I hope you enjoy. Same disclaimers in place as noted in chapter 1. It is more of a transitional chapter, setting up the dislike between Eliot and Morgan. Chapter 3 will give you the information on the con at hand. ENJOY :)

Follow me on twitter-search Chasityannmyers

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I awoke what seemed to be after only a few minutes of sleep, if that is what you even want to call it. As I rolled over my clock showed 8:45AM, 'You have got to be kidding me!' I rolled back over and covered my head in an attempt to go back to dream land. I should have known better, I wasn't going back to sleep. I decided to go on and start my day. As I walked across the hall I noticed mom's company was still here. She seemed so happy, she just 'fit' perfect with everyone, but I guess that was kind of her job, to 'fit' into a situation, but I could tell she was not acting, this was genuine compatibility.

"AH!" I slammed my bathroom door back shut.

"Don't you know how to knock?" I heard the one with longer hair, I think mom called him Eliot, yell out.

"Haven't you ever heard of locking the door?" by this time we had grabbed everyone's attention and they were all laughing, but I wasn't. Who do these people think they are, they come wake me up at the crack of dawn, basically refuse to leave when I told them that mom was not home, and now yell at me when they didn't lock the door when using MY bathroom. I was beginning to not like these people.

Eliot glared at me as he left my bathroom, I shot it right back at him. I know his type, lady killer looks, muscle, and big bad scary glares to intimidate those around him. It's just a show, he didn't scare me. It's such a shame that God graced people like him with such great sultry looks and muscles. Oh this was not going to be a good day.

Apparently mom had either anticipated my need for coffee or one of her friends wanted some, either way I smelled it and I craved it.

"You're back up early." Mom noted as I crossed the living room. "We weren't too loud were we? I hope we didn't wake you."

'You're kind of late for that' I thought to myself. "No mom, I just couldn't sleep." I continued as I made my way to the smell of the coffee. Mom turned back to her company. She really was enjoying herself, but I noticed that Tara still seemed to be left out. She left the company in the living room and joined me at the bar as I poured my coffee.

"So Tara, what's the story on these people?" I asked as I got an extra cup and filled it for her. I believe that I have found a partner in misery.

"They are cons" _Great_ I thought, she hasn't quit her old games. This is going to be great if they all get busted here at my house, I could see the headlines now. "But they don't steal just to steal" Tara added.

"I don't follow. If they are cons and they steal, then they are still cons. How can they not steal 'to just steal' as you put it. I was lost by now, who has my mother got herself wrapped up with.

"They con to protect, to help those that have been stolen from. Mostly some poor blue collar guy being duped by some rich, white collar bureaucrat."

"So are you saying they are like some kind of modern day Robin Hood's?" What kind of fairy tale nightmare is this?

"That would be the simplest way to describe it."

I couldn't help but laugh at this, how crazy. How do they justify this? I had to find out more and Tara was my source. "So what's the story on everyone?"

"The one there by your mother, Nate, he's sort of the leader. He comes up with the plan and kind of masterminds every operation."

"Does he and mom have a thing, they seem pretty close?" I have always kept a careful eye out for mom's love interest. She has not always had the best of luck.

"I don't know how serious they are or even were for that matter, but I don't think they were too serious."

"They seem happy enough. What about the blonde, Parker was it?

"Yeah, I don't really know, they all have a secret past. They don't share."

"So what are they here for?" The 10 million dollar question, would I get the answer I wanted.

"I don't know, I've been waiting for them to tell Sophie but all they have talked about is what has happened since your mother left." Tara answered.

Ok, so that wasn't as successful as I thought it would have been. I wonder if that Eliot is always such a badass wannabe.

"So the one that can't lock a door to save his life, Eliot, is he always in such a grumpy mood?"

"I think it's just an act." Tara had confirmed my thoughts.

"That's what I was thinking."

"Are you two going to be antisocial all morning or are you going to join us?" Mom had noticed that we had removed ourselves from the conversation. We exchanged a smile and made our way into the living room. Tara took a spot on the arm of the couch. Mom motioned for me to sit beside her, of course this opened up the door for mom to direct the conversation toward me. Someone please rescue me.


	3. Chapter 3

I finally got over my writer's block and got chapter 3 written. The painting mentioned "The Daughters" belongs to Ekaterina Nikiporenko, when I created the title for this story I researched different paintings that would tie in with the title to give it a dual meaning and I came across 'The Daughters'. From the research I have done I found that 'The Daughters' painting was intended to capture the individual personalities of the last Tsar of Russias' daughters according to .?? .I hope you enjoy. Same disclaimers as mentioned in chapter 1.

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I really wished mom would quit bragging about me. It makes me feel awkward because I don't know what to say and Lord knows I can't change the subject because mom would find a way to bring it back to me. Trust me I tried. My only hope now was for someone to call, and I was really wishing they would call soon because mom was starting to tell stories from when I was a child. That was definitely something I didn't want to hear again.

"Thank God!" Did I say that out loud, I thought when I heard the ringing of a phone. I only hoped it was mine.

"What?" my mother asked. I did say it out loud, but she didn't understand me. Good.

"Oh, nothing" I answered quickly while I began looking for my phone.

The next words I heard were of Tara answering her phone. I was not as lucky as I had hoped, however I was going to seize the chance to attempt to change the subject, again.

"Hey mom, I was just thinking, there's a performance of Abigail's Gift at the theater this weekend, how about we get tickets for Sunday night?" The talk of theater was usually enough to get mom's attention. It had succeeded in this case too, but I had forgotten that she and I had been in a production of this very play in London.

"Oh, Morgan that is a splendid ideal. Do you remember when we did that play in London? You were the cutest little Abigail Grace." And she was off. She proceeded to tell her friends about how we played the mother and daughter roles in the play and how cute I looked in my blue and white dress with the big bow on my head. It wasn't so bad until she pulled up the pictures on her phone. I can not believe she actually had them on her phone!

In my fit of embarrassment I was relieved to feel my phone vibrate against my leg. I answered quickly and to my relief it was Dr. Grant from the museum informing me that he had received word that the painting we were expecting for this weekend's exhibit was going to arrive this afternoon and invited me to come on in to help with the necessary preparation.

Apparently Tara had found her escape route as well because as I was hanging up my phone she was saying her goodbyes to everyone. "Well, it was good seeing all of you but a friend of mine just arrived in town and has a 6 hour lay-over at the airport. I'm going to spend the day with her. Sophie, I will call you later." And with that said Tara grabbed her purse and was out the door.

It was time for my exit as well.

"That was Dr. Grant from the museum, the painting we are expecting for this weekend's exhibit is going to arrive this afternoon and Dr. Grant is going to let me help with the prep work for this exhibit. I don't know how long I will be, but I'll pick up some dinner for everyone on my way home."

As I got up to get ready mom asked the question that would cause me to have an odd nagging feeling all day. It wasn't necessarily the question, but the looks I got from her guest after I answered.

"Morgan, what painting are you all showcasing this weekend?"

"The Daughters by Ekaterina Nikiporenko." And there it came, all 4 of her guest had a startled, deer in the headlight look.

Oh, God. Don't tell me that's why they are here. Don't tell me they are here to steal "The Daughters" painting.


	4. Chapter 4

This chapter has 2 different locations of dialogue, the museum at which Morgan works as a student at, and then back at Morgan's apartment. The are depicted by (SCENE:----) before each starts. I want to say thank you for taking the time to read the workings of my mind. I hope that it is worth your time. Same disclaimers still in effect. Enjoy :)

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(SCENE: Museum where Morgan works as a student under Dr. Grant)

No matter how psyched I was about sitting in with this exhibit, the nagging thought of mom's friends stealing the painting kept bothering me. Now that they knew I had access to it would they expect me to help them steal it? I was beginning to get my self worked up while waiting for the painting to arrive, and I believe it was more noticeable than I had thought.

"Morgan, calm down. I know you are excited about helping with this exhibit but you can calm down a little, you don't want to look too excited, Mr. Hastings might think the painting is worth more than we said and might asked for a bigger cut of the profits. As if he not asking enough already, 70%, no one asks for 70%. I don't understand why Dr. Aramas agreed to this exhibit." Dr. Grant trying to give me a pep talk, while trying to hide his own anxiety, began rambling on and probably shared a little more than he wanted to.

Dr. Aramas is the head honcho of the museum, he has the final call in all exhibits that come to the museum. Mr. Hastings, the current owner of "The Daughters", approached Dr. Aramas with his exhibit and asked for a showing. It was odd however, Mr. Hastings would only allow the exhibit to be on display for one weekend only. It would be available for private viewing at the host party on Friday night, would be open to public viewing on Saturday, and then would leave the museum on Sunday. In addition to the flat fee the museum would pay to host the painting, Mr. Hastings requested 70% of the profit from the host party tickets sold. This was an outlandish request and there had to be some reason that Dr. Aramas agreed to these circumstances. I did not question it too much since I was just a student and out of the loop. I did gather enough to know that Dr. Grant did not like Mr. Hastings.

"There it is Morgan, let's go." Dr. Grant tapped my shoulder as an armored truck pulled up in front of the museum's loading dock. "Oh great." He stopped suddenly as Mr. Hastings got out of the truck. "What do you think the chances of obtaining the painting and keep him locked out of the museum are?"

"What?" Surely I didn't hear what I thought I did? I have never heard Dr. Grant say anything negative about anyone before.

"What? Oh nothing. Let's get this painting unloaded" Dr. Grant must have realized that he did say what I thought he said out loud and quickly made his way to the back of the truck.

It didn't take me long to agree with Dr. Grant about locking Mr. Hastings out. Mr. Hastings was a big suck up. He was, is it possible, too friendly. Like scary movie friendly, he was going to be the guy that seems like the good guy but when you wake up at 2 in the morning he's going to be standing there with a knife about to plunge it in your chest. I didn't like him too much. He gave me an odd vibe. As the day proceeded and we showed Mr. Hastings where we were going to put the painting on Saturday and then showed him where we would store it and show it for the private showing on Friday night, he began acting weird, obsessive weird. He took a particular interest in security, which was expected, I would want to make sure that my items were going to be secure.

After what seemed like hours of going over security, which in my opinion should have already been discussed, Dr. Grant and I returned to his office to register the painting and to take care of the formalities to get the insurance coverage all set. This is generally a 30 minute process, just punch in the correct information, run it through the insurance company for validation and then job done, and painting and museum insured, but it didn't work quite that easy for us this time. When we typed in the information to find the insurance company insuring the painting we kept getting blanks. Everyone has their art insured by someone, maybe the company's computer is down. Mr. Hastings just so happened to be passing about the time we got "NO RESULTS FOUND" for the 5th time.

"Mr. Hastings." I took lead knowing how much Dr. Grant despised him. Dr. Grant had moved to another computer to check other resources he had. "Mr. Hastings, we are trying to validate you insurance so the painting can be covered, but every time we come up blank. It is possible that your insurance company's computer is currently down, do you know who it is, and maybe we could call them?"

Mr. Hastings seemed hesitant to answer. Did he not even know who his painting was insured through? Maybe he forgot.

"Let's see, there is IYS insurance, International insurance, Kingsley International, I know that they insure a lot of owners that only have one or two paintings in their collection." As I was about to look up some other companies for Mr. Hastings he let out a small chuckle.

"I am so sorry Ms. Princeton. I should have told you all earlier and saved you all this time. I do not have my painting insured with any one. That is why I make sure I only show this painting in museums with top security." Mr. Hastings said in the most apologizing tone. Very persuasive.

"If you don't mind me asking Mr. Hastings, why do you not have your painting insured? Even with the best security I would still worry about what would happen if my painting was stolen, I would want to know that there was some sort of compensation."

"My dear, the fault lies with having your painting linked to a company. Without having my painting insured or represented by a company then there is no way for anyone to track it. There is no trail of where it is or where it is going to be. I contact who I want to show it, and only allow them to give full details a few days in advanced, they can say that they will be showing a one of a kind Russian painting but they can not release that it is 'The Daughters' until the day before the exhibit. That gives less time for anyone wanting to steal it to come up with a plan. That is also why I only allow it to be on show for 2 days. Limit the amount of time available to steal it. And of course I only allow my painting to be shown in the best museums with the best security such as this one." Mr. Hastings posed a very good argument

"And you have it released to the public that the painting is going to arrive on Friday just before the host party, but you really bring it in early, so that any one planning on stealing the painting on Friday will be waiting all day for a truck that never arrives. Very good plan." I stated my conclusion.

"Correct you are my dear."

"There is only one problem. Does Dr. Aramas know this? Because the museum does not want to be liable if your painting comes up missing"

It was Dr. Aramas that answered my question as he walked up to join Mr. Hastings and myself. "I take pride knowing that future employees take care to make sure my museum is not going to be held liable for anything. Do not worry Morgan, in exchange for showing 'The Daughters' this weekend without insurance, Mr. Hastings signed a waver releasing the museum if anything happens." Is that really possible I thought. I would not think that Dr. Aramas would take such a risk on a painting that was worth as much as it was, but then again I am a student and do not understand all of the contractual processes for showing an exhibit.

"Thank you all so much, I know that my painting is in good hands. You all do a wonderful job." Mr. Hastings complimented with a sly smile.

"Thank you, we are glad to be able to show your painting this weekend." I returned the friendly comment.

Dr. Aramas then directed Mr. Hastings toward the Russian gallery.

"Don't fall into his trap Morgan." Dr. Grant warned as he pulled up some information on the computer.

The rest of the day was very educational. I got to see the multiple system checks that were conducted and got to sit in on all the meetings about how the weekend was going to play out, it was going to be very scheduled.

We concluded our work day about 6pm with one last check on the painting in its secure location for the night, and a run through to make sure all of the guards were in place. This was head of security's job but Dr. Grant always like to know every detail about a painting and its security while it is at the museum.

I decided to pick up some pizzas for dinner. While waiting for the pizzas at the diner, I began to think about the information overload I had just experienced. That odd feeling about Mr. Hastings was back, and was nagging, but this time the word steal was coming to mind as well. My thoughts kept focusing on Mr. Hastings and his views of showing his art, it just seemed odd, something wasn't right. I quickly dismissed it thinking that I was just paranoid because I had a house full of thieves that knew 'The Daughters' was going to be at the museum this weekend, mixed with the odd looks they gave me this morning. My thinking was quickly interrupted as the cashier called that the pizzas were done, I paid for the order and made my way home.

(SCENE: Morgan's Apartment)

"Hey, I'm home and I've got pizza." I announced as I walked in and made my way to the counter. Mom and her friends greeted me at the counter by taking the pizza boxes and digging in.

"How was your day honey?" Mom questioned. How do I answer?

"It was good, very educational." I decided that I would be vague.

The pizza was a big hit, but it didn't take long for me to realize that something was about to happen because everyone got their pizza and left the kitchen, that is everyone but Nate and mom.

"Morgan," Mom started out, " How well do you know Mr. Hastings?"

Wait, how did she know his name? I only told her the name of the painting, not the owner.

"Who?" I decided to play dumb.

"Michael Hastings, he claims to be the owner of 'The Daughters'."

"Mom, how did you? What is going on?" Now I was beginning to get worried, my suspicions were being confirmed.

It was Nate that proceeded to give me the story. "Morgan, we have reason to believe that Mr. Hastings has stolen 'The Daughters' painting from a Mr. and Mrs. Oleg Berlix. He shows it at different museums for one weekend only exhibits, then he goes to the next exhibit. He doesn't allow the museum to advertise until just a few days before the exhibit, he doesn't have the painting insured so it can not be tracked. Morgan is there anything you can tell us about him?"

Wow. It is like they know him. But they are thieves themselves and could have been following him all along. I don't know if I can trust them, and I am not about to put my future on the line until I know for sure.

"I want proof." I demanded, "Proof that it is the stolen painting."

Nate showed me the police reports from the original owners, but I was still not convinced, he could have forged them.

"I want more." I bluntly stated after reviewing the police reports. "You're thieves, how do I know you didn't forge it?"

"Morgan." It was mom that reprimanded my remark but Nate stopped her before she could go on.

"She's right Sophie, she doesn't know that we didn't forge these. However Morgan, you know that no one has had access to the painting today since it was unloaded, except for the museum staff, correct?"

"That is correct." I was beginning to get worried.

"Morgan do you recall the serial number on the painting?"

Oh my gosh. How did I miss that? That was a 2nd year mistake. I remember that it looked like it had been shaved down, but I didn't think anything of it because the supposed owner was with the painting. I only studied tracking serial numbers when dealing with stolen artwork, and we didn't have to enter a serial number in this case because the painting was not insured. Apparently Nate read the conclusion on my face.

"That's right Morgan." Nate concluded

"Ok, let's just say for arguments sake that the painting is stolen, not saying that I completely believe you, but if it is what do we do to prove it."

"Ah, that is where we need your help Morgan. We need you to get us in to verify that the painting is stolen and so we can retrieve it for the rightful owners."

"But what if it isn't stolen and you're wrong? And then what if you get caught and they find out I helped you, then I will lose my scholarship and the position at the museum?" There were too many variables that needed to be considered.

"Morgan we just need you to give us some information and help us get someone in. If it is not the right painting then we will go on like nothing ever happened and leave the party, and if it is the painting we will make sure that it can not be linked to you." Nate sounded very reassuring with this. "What is it?" It was like he read my thoughts and knew that I still had some questions.

"It's that something is up with Dr. Aramas, he would never accept an exhibit under the circumstances laid out by Mr. Hastings." Oddly I felt comfortable sharing my concerns.

"We have an ideal of why Dr. Aramas accepted the exhibit." Nate motioned for me to follow him to the living room, the rest of the team was there waiting and as we arrived Hardison began the briefing by going over the information that I had just heard from Nate in the kitchen. I gained more interest as he began to talk about Dr. Aramas.

"We believe that Dr. Aramas discovered that the painting was stolen and was going to report it but Mr. Hastings is blackmailing him. It looks like Dr. Aramas has some dirty laundry in his closet and Mr. Hastings has threatened to reveal it if Dr. Aramas turns in the painting."

"That explains why Dr. Aramas accepted such an outlandish offer." I thought out loud. After Hardison's briefing of everyone involved, Nate stood up and went over the con and how I was going to get them in to ensure that this was the stolen painting.

"You want me to what?"


	5. Chapter 5

This is it, this is the chapter where the con actually starts. I hope that you have enjoyed this story so far and continue to enjoy it. I noticed on my intro on Chapter 3 I tried to post the website where you could find 'The Daughters' painting to give proper credit, but when it posted it posted as ??, the name of the website I found out about this painting was M&M purveyors of fine art, MasterPiece Oils. Disclaimers still in place. Enjoy :)

LET THE CON BEGIN.... are you saying finally??

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(SCENE- MORGAN'S APARTMENT)

"You want me to what?" I blurted out in shock. There is no way he just said what he said. There is no way I can do that. I'll kill him before the night is over.

He repeated, "Morgan, you are going to have a guest at the party. Eliot is going to be your guest. Before the exhibit opens for the showing Friday night, I need you to get him back to look at the painting to verify that it is what we are looking for. How hard will that be for you?"

"Getting to the painting early is no problem, I will volunteer to go to the storage area before the guest come back and let Dr. Grant be present at the speech. I can take my guest back with me. We will be back there alone for 10 minutes; however we will be on the security cameras."

"I can take care of that," Hardison added.

"Good" Nate said and then proceeded to tell us the rest of the con.

What have I got my self into?

(SCENE- HOST PARTY AT THE MUSEUM ON FRIDAY NIGHT)

As Eliot and I stood in line to enter the party I decided that we better make sure we had our story straight, and give him the time line for when we would get to go back.

In a whisper I began, "As soon as people see that I have a male guest they are going to be questioning who you are, I think it may be best if we just say that your my cousin, Brad, from Oklahoma. We will have to do the meet and greet, which will include Mr. Hastings and all the museum staff, as well as some of the college staff and local big wigs. I have already cleared with Dr. Grant that I will go to the storage room when the speech begins and make sure everything is set up. The welcome speech is set to begin at 7:30 sharp, Dr. Aramas will make it short and sweet, your basic welcome, an introduction of Mr. Hastings, and then he will announce that the special guest can line up to view the painting, and he will direct the rest of the guest to the Russian gallery. It will take us about 5 minutes to get to the storage room, then we will have about 10 minutes to examine the painting before anyone else arrives. A security guard will be posted to the room as soon as the guest begin to make their way to the exhibit."

Eliot just stood there with an 'are you seriously telling me what to do' look on his face. I could tell he didn't want to be there as much as I didn't want him there, but I was going to do this my way, it is my future that I am putting on the line here.

"OH MY GOODNESS, MORGAN!"

"Kelly? What is she doing here?" I recognized her voice anywhere, it was one of my best friends, I had forgotten that she loved Russian history.

"This is so cool, I cannot wait to see 'The Daughters' painting. I am so psyched." It didn't take long for her to recognize that I had a guest. "Is this the guy from the bakery you were telling me about. Girl, he is fine." Crap, I had forgotten that I had told Kelly about the guy I had met at the bakery and he did favor Eliot. Oh no, she is going to blow my cover story, but before I could tell her no and introduce her to my cousin Brad, Eliot pulled me closer to him and held out a hand in introduction.

"Hi, I'm Brad, you must be Kelly. Morgan has told me a lot about you." What is he doing, that is not the name I told her and I knew she was going to pick up on that.

"Brad?" She said taking his hand as he pulled it up to kiss her in a polite gesture. Looking at me she continued, "I thought you said his name was Trevor?"

Eliot was quick to cover, "Oh it is. My name is Trevor Bradley Scott, but I prefer to go by Brad."

"Well, Brad it is nice to meet you. I am so glad Morgan has found herself a gentleman. Treat her right, or you have to deal with me." Kelly, meaning every word of what she said, and willing and able to act upon it if needed, threatened.

Eliot wrapped his arms around me and kissed my head and said, "I will take care of her do not worry."

I couldn't help to think that he was talking to more than one person when he said that last sentence. I really hated it that now I would have to act like he was my boyfriend, oh joy. We continued in line until it was time to show our passes. The night went as planned, we met first with Dr. Aramas and Mr. Hastings. Then proceeded to meet with Dr. Grant who introduced me to several influential people of the city. I spent the first half of the evening putting on the fake smile and laughing at jokes that really were not that funny, generally I would not have to wear a fake smile, I always got a genuine natural high at these events, but the impending circumstances bogged me down tonight.

"Its 6:55, we better get ready." I notified Eliot when I noticed the time. We stood in our spot until Dr. Aramas got up to the podium, at that time I led Eliot toward the storage room. Eliot was silent on the way to the storage room, observing the different security measurements in place and relaying them through his earpiece. "Why you?"

"What?" he asked disgustedly

"Why do you have to be the one with me, mom could have just as easily come down to verify the painting, or any one. You could have even told me what to look for and I could have checked it for you."

"Everyone has their job. Hardison and Parker are watching security. Nate and your mom are brown nosing Hastings, and my job is to verify that this is the painting we are looking for. Your job is to get me to the painting and let me do my job. You understand that or do I need to break it down for you?"

"Listen here.." I was about to let him have it but like always I'm interrupted by someone, this time it was a security guard.

"Everything ok Ms. Princeton?" The security guard questioned looking at Eliot.

"Yeah, you know young lovers quarrels. Everything is ok, thank you." I don't know how much longer I could come up with lies and excuses. I believe Eliot was at the end of his rope as well, I could tell he was about to say something but I got the feeling that he received strict instructions through his ear piece. We made our way to the storage room in silence. When we arrived I showed Eliot the painting and he began examining it, a few moments later he broke the silence.

"This is it. It's the Berlix's painting."

"How. How can you tell?" If I was going to be in on helping them steal the painting I wanted to know how they knew it was stolen without the serial number.

Eliot acted a little nicer now, I am sure mom had something to do with it. He was still short however. "Look there, see the initials, OB? Mr. Berlix marked the painting there in case it was ever stolen. Here are the original photos of when he done it. He put the initials there that way they could be found if needed be, but not so out of place that the thief would have realized what he done."

"That makes sense. Here comes the guard." I heard the security guard coming down the hall. Eliot placed the painting back in it proper position and I acted like I was giving him the history of the painting when the guard arrived. The rest of the guest arrived within minutes, among them were mom and Nate. Nate appeared to be more interested with the room than the painting, it was later that I realized that he was casing out the room to determine the best way in. After the guest finished the viewing we secured the room and joined the party. At the end of the night, all 3 groups left in separate vehicles and met back at my apartment.

(SCENE: MORGANS APARTMENT)

By the time I had got back to my apartment I was exhausted. I do not see how mom does this for a living. After changing into more comfortable clothing I crashed on the couch, only to be joined by everyone else as they arrived.

Nate began the conversation by going over all the information obtained. I nodded off a few times, I think I might have been snoring because mom kept nudging me every few seconds. After going over all the information Nate began to describe the con and everyone's job. There was only one problem.

"We need to create a distraction to get everyone's attention, the only problem is that at the time we need the distraction we all are going to have a job to do. Any suggestions?"

Everyone was silent trying to think of what to do, although it seemed obvious to me.

"What about Tara? She can be our distraction, no one at the museum will know her." How hard was that. Apparently very hard because I was getting some pretty strange looks, mom however backed me up.

"She's right, we can use Tara, she'll be perfect." Mom said as she turned around on the couch to call for Tara. "Tara?

"Are you serious, none of you realized she is not here?" I could not believe they disliked Tara so much that they wouldn't comment at her absence. To all of them she was supposed to be here last night. "Did you check your phone mom? Tara called last night to say that her friend's flight was cancelled and she couldn't get another flight out toward her destination until tomorrow morning at 8. Tara said that she was going to stay with her since I had a house full and that she would be back about 830 in the morning."

"Well, it looks like we will use Tara as our distraction. Sophie can you call and let her know that we need her?" Nate had his plan in mind.

After mom talked to Tara and everyone was set on their role for tomorrow I decided that it was time for me to go to bed, if 4 hours exhausted me, what would a full day do to me.

"I'm going to bed I will see everyone in the morning."

I could have swore as I walked out of the living room I heard Eliot remarking in his rough sarcastic voice, "Sleep well my dear" and then chuckled.

I surrendered to the peacefulness of my bed, only to have the day's events rolling in my mind like a movie. I couldn't help but to think, even though I am helping to get this painting back to its rightful owners, I feel like a thief.


	6. Chapter 6

Here is chapter 6, I hope that you enjoy. As always, thank you for taking the time to read the renderings of my imagination, I hope it is worth your time. The time frame on this story continues to be about mid-late season 2 when the group still didn't fully trust Tara. Enjoy :)

Disclaimer- I do not own Leverage or the characters, or 'The Daughter's' painting.

(SCENE: Morgan's Apartment)

I awoke with the sun shining through the window onto my face. I laid in bed with the thoughts of how wrong things could go today and all the questions I had about the plan such as, what was going to happen when everyone realized that the painting was missing? My intentions were to ask Nate all my questions at the 'briefing' he was going to have before we left for the con.

After getting ready for the day I entered into the living room to find Eliot sitting in a chair drinking coffee and reading MY newspaper. Seriously, if he has it all out of order by the time I get to it, I swear. I crossed the living room without a word from either of us. I entered the kitchen to find mom trying to heat up an egg and cheese croissant, unsuccessfully.

"Good Morning. Having trouble?" I asked knowing the answer.

"Good morning dear. Did you sleep well?" Mom responded sounding frustrated

"Decent enough." I responded suppressing a chuckle at mom's inability to heat up the croissant. "Did you leave it in the plastic bag and poke holes in it?"

"Oh. Well. No. Was I supposed to?" Mom really didn't have a clue, all those years on the run you would think she would learn how to prepare a fast meal, but mom always had high taste for food and shoes.

"Mom, go finish getting ready, I'll fix these." I took over the preparing of breakfast while mom went to finish her hair.

Mom returned to the kitchen and sat down at the bar to eat her breakfast. She took one bite and spit it back into a napkin.

"What is it?" I questioned wondering if her croissant was warm all the way through.

"Morgan, I don't see how you can eat this frozen stuff, it tastes like cardboard"

"It's not that bad." I responded, or at least I didn't think it was so bad.

"I thought I would try it since I didn't have time to cook, but that's just disgusting. I'm going to make some toast. Do you want any?" Mom sounded disgusted, like she had an awful taste in her mouth and couldn't get it out. She got up from the bar leaving what was left of her croissant behind and went to the cabinet to get bread for toast.

"I'm good." Sure it's not like homemade but I'll compromise for ease of preparation.

Apparently Nate had heard mom's complaints of the croissant and knew she was finished, or at least I hope he knew because he entered the kitchen and picked up the croissant and took a bite.

"I don't know Soph. It's not that bad." Nate teased with a full mouth.

"I just don't see how you can eat it." Mom replied

Mom and Nate shared a smile and I decided to give them some privacy. I was beginning to think they were closer than Tara had thought. As I entered the living room I wondered how badly Eliot had messed up my paper. To my pleasant surprise I found my paper folded neatly on the end table and everything was in order.

Shortly after I began reading my favorite section, the comics, everyone gathered in the living room. Nate stood before all of us and began going over the plans for the day. He sounded like he was finishing up so I was preparing to ask the questions I had about this plan.

"Let's go steal us a painting." Nate stated and walked out of the living room.

"Does he…" I started and paused in confusion of what just happened.

"Always" Hardison answered apparently knowing the rest of my question.

"Yep" Parker had said simultaneously. Mom and Eliot were just nodding their heads in agreement.

I had questions, and he just walked off, just like that. Did no one else see the flaws in his plan, or were they just not mentioning them.

"Aw. Did I miss the grand exit?" Tara, whom had snuck in on us, apparently also knew that the walking off was a trademark of Nate.

Everyone seemed to know what to do and got up to get ready for the day. I sat dumbfounded on the couch. It was Eliot that smacked at my leg with the newspaper, bringing me out of my trance.

"Come on, we have to be the first one's there." He commanded. I grabbed my things and we were out the door. Eliot was insistent on driving. I didn't put up much of an argument, I felt that I needed to save my energy for the day ahead, and my mind was still bogged with Nate's exit and my questions. Besides I honestly think that if I argued too much Eliot would just pick me up and fasten me in his truck.

(SCENE: Eliot's Truck)

The ride was quiet. I decided that if I was going to ask my questions, now was going to be the only chance I would get.

"Are you sure this is going to work?" I broke the silence

"What do you mean?" Eliot sounded confused. Apparently he did trust the plan.

In a teenage girl sugar rush mode I began to ramble, "Come on, do you think you all can actually do this without getting caught, and what are you going to do when they realize the painting is stolen, and then what's going to keep Mr. Hastings from doing this again?" I had much more in my mind, but these 3 questions were all I could spit out.

Eliot let out a giggle as he answered. "We're not going to get caught stealing the painting. You don't know Parker, she can steal anything from anywhere. As for your other two questions Nate has that all planned out."

The teenage girl rambling was now replaced by the sarcastic Morgan that had exhibited herself a lot over the past few days. "Seriously, because I never heard that part of the plan, Eliot. It's my career on the line here and I don't want to risk it on an unthoughtout plan."

"Don't you think that maybe that's why you don't know? Nate is only telling you what you need to know that way if anything goes wrong you're not involved and it can't be linked to you."

"Yeah. Great. There's just one problem. I'm going to be in the security room with you, if they catch you, then they catch me. How will I be able to get off the hook then?" Rude Morgan was beginning to emerge.

"I'll just act like you're my hostage." Eliot said in a humorous tone. He then took a different, more kinder tone. I would have assumed that it was by command but he didn't have his com in. "Listen, you trust your mom right?"

"Of course" I answered without any thought.

"You know that if she thought even for a second that with Nate's plan there was a chance for you to get any of the blame she would pull the plug and not go through with it, right?"

I sat for a moment in silence

"Right?" Eliot questioned again.

My silence must have made him think 'no' but in all actuality I was realizing that what he said was true, during everything my mother has done, my safety and well being has always came first. And so I answered attempting to hold back a few tears that were trying to escape, "You're right."

"Then trust Nate and trust me. I promised your mother and I promise you that I won't let anything happen to you. Just listen to me and I will keep you safe."

Wow, could there be a nice side to this guy? I spent the rest of the ride to the museum in silent reflection of Eliot's words, and began to feel a little better about today.

(SCENE MUSEUM)

We arrived at the museum and entered the Russian exhibit wing for the morning briefing. Dr. Aramas was explaining that the doors to the museum would open to the public at 10am, at noon the Russian wing would be shut down for an hour while 'The Daughter's' painting was being brought up to display, and then the exhibit would reopen at 1. After the briefing, everyone made their way toward the front door to greet the visitors as they entered. Eliot looked a little confused when I mentioned we had to be the welcoming committee. We had 10 minutes to kill before the doors open, so I decided I would enlighten Eliot as to the normal practices of the museum. "It's tradition. Dr. Aramas thinks it builds rapport with our visitors if we are here to greet. The entire staff greets when the doors open for about 10 minutes, depending on the crowd, then throughout the rest of the day we have greeters. Every staff member is a greeter at least once a month, he thinks it shows teamwork and lets our visitors know that we are a family friendly museum. I guess it does work, we keep pretty good attendance, even when the science wing was shut down for an upgrade a few months ago. As for the presenting of 'The Daughter's' at noon. I really don't know the reason behind it, but every time we have a special exhibit, he waits to present the main article at 1. Shutting down the wing it is on at noon and for an hour. Honestly I think he does it to build suspense and to get people to spend money at the food court and gift shop while they wait for the exhibit to open."

"Makes sense." Eliot didn't seem too shocked by the tradition.

"Alright everyone. Smiles" Dr. Aramas called everyone's attention as he and Mr. Hastings opened the doors and welcomed the guest.

Everyone stood in line as the visitors entered, smile after smile and greeting them as they entered. The opening rush lasted about 15 minutes, not too bad, considering the hour rush that we had when we exhibited King Tut's Tomb a few months back. After the rush Eliot and I made our way to the Russian wing.

"Your mom and Nate just arrived." Eliot leaned over and informed me. As we turned from the painting we were viewing I noted mom and Nate entering. I took an exaggerated breath, apparently Eliot noticed because he leaned in closer and said, "Don't worry, it won't take long." A few moments later Eliot looked toward Mom and Nate and nodded then leaned over and whispered "Tara just got here, lets head toward the stairs." Eliot and I made our way toward the painting by the staff stairwell that lead to the basement and toward the security room and the painting. We then got our cue, Tara came blundering into the exhibit acting like a drunk, lost heartbroken woman. Shouting about how he never trusted her, never let her in on what was going on, and how he would go behind her back.

"I wonder who HE is" I thought out loud as we entered the stairwell.

"I have a few ideals." Eliot replied as we entered the basement corridor, taking the lead in a guarding stance. "In here" He motioned and we entered a closet while security passed and made their way to deal with Tara's commotion. "Alright, security is clear. Parker, after Morgan and I get into the security room and get the security cameras over to Hardison you should have free range."

I was beginning to think that Parker was going to be able to steal this painting after all and that this plan may actually work. I thought too soon. We had only taken a few steps out of the closet, toward the security room when I heard Eliot exhale, "Oh boy."

"What Oh boy? That didn't sound like a good Oh boy." I was right because as I said that we heard footsteps behind us and the cock of a gun.

"When I say go, you run for the nearest closet and lock yourself in there." Eliot commanded. We both slowly turned around to see that it was Mr. Hastings that had followed us down. Eliot took a protective stance again, blocking me from Mr. Hastings. How did he know what we were doing, Tara went straight to him during the distraction, she was supposed to keep him of all people occupied, how did he get away?

"You think you're smart Ms. Princeton. I had my eye on you with all your questions when you were trying to register my painting. I knew I couldn't trust you." Mr. Hastings began accusing, but Eliot was quick to jump in as he promised.

"She has nothing to do with this." Eliot began "I forced her to show me the painting and how to get to it, now just let her go and we can settle this ourselves."

"Um. No. I don't think so." Mr. Hastings aimed his gun.

"Get ready" Eliot said back to me.

Before I knew what was going on, I heard the silence of the gun shot, and felt a searing pain in my right arm as I hit the cold ground.


	7. Chapter 7

Authors Note: The con continues. The last half of the chapter is the conversation Morgan hears through the com, which I found the most difficult to write because I couldn't type what was going on but still had to explain it. If you have any questions about 'how' did something happen, chapter 8 will explain the con, Morgan after all had quite a few questions. I did use a reference from Bones about a painter's brush strokes. ENJOY :)

Disclaimers: I do not own Leverage or 'The Daughter's' Painting or Bones.

Chapter 7

(SCENE: MUSEUM)

No blood. That's good. I had realized that the searing pain in my right arm was from the pipe that I hit as Eliot threw me to the ground. I could tell he was laying on top of me. Everything was going so fast yet it was in slow motion. "Are you ok?" Eliot whispered in my ear.

"Yeah. You?" I was breathing heavy from having the breath knocked out of me.

"Ok, take this. When I take Hastings get to the security room and Hardison will tell you what to do. Stay there until one of us come for you or give you the all clear to come out." Eliot placed his com in my ear and slowly raised up turning toward Mr. Hastings, still in a protective stance guarding me. I positioned myself so I could run when I got my cue.

"Listen man, let's deal with this, you and me. Let Morgan go." Eliot began moving closer to Mr. Hastings.

"I don't think so. I think I will keep both of you here." Mr. Hastings moved within feet of Eliot cocked the gun, placed it against his chest, and tilted his head. "Do you understand?"

All I heard was a low growl and Eliot yelling "NOW!" as he began to apprehend Mr. Hastings. I didn't waste any time, even though I wanted to look to see what he was doing and make sure he was ok. I took off running as fast as I could in my heels. I knew I should have wore flats.

"I'm in the security room" I informed Hardison as I shut myself in and locked the door.

All I could hear was the rambling of mom's worry and Hardison's instructions.

"Morgan are you ok?"

"Morgan I need you to find the line feeding into the computer."

"Hold on, I can't understand when both of you are talking. Mom I'm ok. Now Hardison what am I looking for?" I began looking frantically around the room wondering how in the world I was ever going to find the right feed. Hardison walked me through it step by step. He really knows his stuff. "Ok I got it. I think." I responded as I spliced the feed for Hardison.

"Yes you do. Parker I have control over the cameras, your free to go." Hardison gave Parker the all clear.

I let out a huge sigh and heard mom in my ear. "Morgan are you sure your ok? You're not just saying that to keep me from worrying?"

"Mom. Other than having the biggest adrenaline rush in my life I am ok. Just get this over with so I can get out of here."

It was Nate I heard next. "Morgan you need to start making your way back to Eliot, stay back and guarded until security arrives then get closer and play off Eliot's lead, your mom and I will be down there in a minute. Parker you better hurry up, Hastings had to alert security because all but 2 guards left Tara and are headed back downstairs in a rush."

I made my way slowly out of the security room becoming anxious at what I might see when I turned the corner. I rounded the corner to see that Eliot was still alive and that security was coming down the stairs. Eliot and Mr. Hastings both were on the floor, the gun was broken down near Eliot. Mr. Hastings was the first to speak when security arrived.

"Get them, get them! They are trying to steal my painting."Mr. Hastings was moving his finger back and forth pointing at Eliot and I.

"Whoa. We weren't after any painting. I got sick and Morgan was bringing me down here to the bathroom so I could vomit and leave without having to go through everyone." Eliot, making a sick face, explained.

There just went the hostage plan, but I beginning to trust Eliot and he acted like he knew what he was doing. He even looked sick, I don't know if he was acting or if he was actually hurt, but I would have believed his story. We then heard someone else on the steps, it was Nate and mom. Mom's eyes went straight to me, I don't think she believed I was ok until she saw it with her own eyes.

"What's going on here. Mr. Hastings, I thought I mentioned that I had my own security." Nate said, pulling papers out of his pocket. I was really lost know. I didn't think that Mr. Hastings getting away from Tara, coming down to the basement and pulling a gun on Eliot and I was part of the plan.

"I don't know what you are talking about." Mr. Hastings looked just as confused as I was. "He's in on it too." He then accused.

"Sure you don't. We met last night at the Host dinner. My wife collects Russian art and has been wanting this painting for her collection, she was so excited when I told her you were willing to sell it. I deposited the money in your account and we were coming down here like you asked to meet you at your van to get the painting." Nate then casually turned to Dr. Aramas who had came down the stairs behind him. "You see, we love your museum and all, but my wife is just too anxious to get this painting home, cost me an extra hundred thousand to get it before the show, but if she is happy then it is worth it." Nate added as he pulled mom into a side hug. Turning back to Mr. Hastings and looking at Dr. Aramas he added, "He didn't tell you?"

"They are lying! I swear. I didn't sell him anything." Mr. Hastings demanded

"But I have the papers right here, and that's your signature right, and there is the account that I wired the money to." By this time the local police were at the museum and joining us in the basement.

This was getting bad I thought."The painting is not in my van. It was in the storage room this morning." I could see and feel the confusion coming from Mr. Hastings words.

"Let's just go check on the painting and see where it is located." The sheriff took control of the situation.

Everyone was surrounded by the local police, they kept Eliot, and I at the stairs. Mom, Nate, Mr. Hastings, Dr. Aramas, and Dr. Grant followed the officers going to check in the storage room. Through the com I heard the voice of Mr. Hastings, "It's not here, they got it. They were all in on it."

Next was the sheriff again, "Hold on, Mr. Hastings where is your van located at?"

"Just outside the loading dock."

The only thing I could then hear was the shuffling of footsteps, and what appeared to be Mr. Hastings murmuring about how he had been robed. Then all the noise stopped.

"Well how about that?" I heard the sheriff say after hearing the door of the van open.

"How did that get there?" Mr. Hastings said, still sounding confused.

"There's your painting dear, see it has our name on the case. " I heard Nate this time.

Dr. Grant was the next voice I heard over the com. These things really pick up good I thought to myself. "That is not 'The Daughter's'."

Did the com break? All I heard was silence, then Mr. Hastings broke the silence, "What do you mean, that is not 'The Daughter's' painting?" Now Mr. Hastings was beginning to sound disgusted.

"I mean that is not the painting we verified the other day for you. It is a copy of 'The Daughter's painting' but it's not by Ekaterina Nikiporenko." Dr. Grant sounded a bit too pleased to share that bit of information.

The sheriff was next to speak, "Are you sure?"

Again with pride Dr Grant began, "Yes I am sure. An artist brush stroke is like a fingerprint and these are not the brush strokes of Ekaterina Nikiporenko."

"You sold me a fake!" Nate sounded agitated. After hearing some papers shuffle I heard Nate again, "What's this?" I couldn't tell what he was talking about but apparently it was not good for Mr. Hastings.

"They set me up." Mr. Hastings was short, you could hear panic in his voice.

The sheriff was next to speak, "Let me get this straight. First you blame the intern and her friend for trying to steal the painting, then you blame this gentleman and his wife for conning you when they have papers where you sold them the painting, and I'm willing to bet if we check your account we are going to find a recent deposit. Am I correct?"

"Check the security cameras that will show you I didn't have anything to do with this and will prove that they are all in on it." Mr. Hastings was sounding desperate.

A cold chill ran down my spine, I just knew if they check the cameras they are going to be able to tell that someone had messed with them. I let out a low whisper, attempting to disguise it as a cough to let Eliot know that we were screwed. "We're done for, they are going to check the cameras."

Eliot seemed calm. I was expecting him to say something but it was Hardison's voice I heard next, "Come on girl, you don't trust my skills. I got this."

Even with the assurance from Hardison I didn't breathe easy until I heard the sheriff speak, "Well this is interesting Mr. Hastings. I never had a criminal lead me right to the video of them stealing their own painting. This is definitely one for the books, if only all criminals were like you. Mr. Hastings you are under arrest for fraud and deception and I am sure by the time I finish talking to the couple out in the hall I will have a few more charges." I heard the clink of the cuffs as the sheriff read Mr. Hastings his Miranda Rights.

"They got him, they actually got him." I was in shock that this actually worked out.

We then saw everyone exit the security room, Mr. Hastings was in cuffs and was escorted out, the sheriff took mine and Eliot's story. I went with Nate's instructions from before and followed Eliot's lead. He went with the story of him getting sick and us trying to avoid everyone.

"Are you two ok, was either of you injured, do I need to call an ambulance?" The officer asked, I thought it was kinda late for that because if we had any serious injury we would have been dead by now.

"Morgan you hurt your arm, you might need to get it checked out." Eliot stated and the officer picked up and paged for an ambulance.

"What? NO! I am fine. It is just a bump, nothing a little ice won't take care of." I was not about to go the hospital over a bump. Eliot looked much worse than I.

"Are you sure your ok dear?" Mom asked acting like a concerned bystander.

"Yes I'm fine, I just hit a pipe when I fell down earlier. I really just want to go home." I assured her.

"Come on, I'll get you home." Eliot guided me toward the exit near the loading dock.

As we got in the truck I handed Eliot his com back and leaned my head back against the window and let out a long sigh.

"Aw come on now, it wasn't that bad." Eliot teased.

I just cocked my eyes at him and didn't say a word. As he took off toward home I laid my head back again and closed my eyes. I still had questions about how everything worked out but there would be time for those later, now I just wanted to get home and take some ibuprofen and put some ice on my arm.


	8. Chapter 8

Authors Note: This chapter is meant to answer the questions/holes that you might have found in chapter 7. Morgan found many things that she needed explained. Like Chapter 7 this is another chapter of dialogue exchange. I also have dialogue in this chapter that does not have a reference to who is saying it, I felt that by saying Morgan said, or Eliot said I was taking away from the story. I don't think you will be confused on who is speaking, it only happens when there is a conversation between 2 characters. I also use line breaks to signal a passing of time. ENJOY :)

Disclaimers: Same as always, I don't own Leverage or any of the characters, I'm just a fan with an overactive imagination and the show has sparked many thoughts.

Chapter 8

(SCENE: MORGAN'S APARTMENT)

Eliot and I were the first to arrive home, the events of the past hour had exhausted me to the point that I didn't care about getting ice on my arm, which was already turning purple, I just wanted to be still. After entering I went straight to the couch. I was too exhausted to even lay down so I just slumped back. A few moments later Eliot emerged from the kitchen with an ice pack and some ibuprofen. Ice never felt so good against the throbbing in my right arm.

"How's your arm?" Eliot asked as he fell back into the chair placing ice on his own shades of purple.

"I'll live. I'm just not use to that much excitement at a showing."

Eliot just exhaled a laugh and we both rested in silence until everyone else arrived.

I must have fell asleep because the next thing I knew everyone was in the living room and Nate was entering.

"Well, we did it. Hastings is getting booked as we speak and I'm sure they are going to find plenty more charges to place against him. I suspect that he won't be stealing any more paintings soon." Nate said triumphant like.

"How did we do it?" A few days ago I would not have associated myself with anyone in the room other than my mother and Tara, but now I included myself with these band of thieves and it was time for me to get the answers to the questions I had.

"What?" Nate answered as if he had not heard me, I suspected it was so I could be specific on what I wanted to know and not get more information than I wanted.

"First how did everyone know all the details when the plan changed. We weren't expecting Mr. Hastings to get away from Tara."

"Well, we knew there was a chance that Hastings would figure out our plan, he is a thief after all. So we planned to have the fake painting in the van so we could frame him." Nate proceeded to explain.

"That's the part that I had mentioned. That he didn't let you in on to protect you." Eliot, nodding his head toward Nate, had finally cleared up an issue from my teenage rant in the truck.

There were still more questions. "Ok. How did you get those papers with Hastings signature on them?"

Mom was the one that hesitantly answered this question, "Morgan. Um. You probably don't want to know that."

I took her at her word when I saw her face, she was right, I really didn't want to know. However my mind continued to try to answer the question and began thinking back to the papers that Mr. Hastings had signed in Dr. Grant's office earlier in the week, and then it clicked. "You actually broke into Dr. Grant's office?"

Everyone's silence gave me the answer, they didn't have to speak.

I talked my way out of freaking out. "No. Ok, ok, it's ok." A deep breath later "You're right, I didn't want to know that and I'm gonna pretend I didn't hear that."

"We didn't say anything." Parker who now looked confused at what I had said, answered. There was something different about that girl.

"How about we just go to my next question. How are you going to be able to keep the original painting, won't the authorities want or even need the painting?"

"The police are going to find out that Hastings had originally stolen the painting and will find that it was returned to the original owners who will report its return. It will be out of the country so the police will not be able to get it, but they will still have enough to put Hastings away for awhile." Nate took back over the conversation.

"Yes they do." Hardison stated in a matter of fact yet accomplishing tone.

"Ok. When you and mom were at the van, it sounded like you picked up something and you said 'what's this'. What was it?"

"Oh nothing much, it just seems that Mr. Hastings was involved in other illegal activities, aside from stealing paintings." I noticed Hardison with a smile on his face as Nate said this, apparently he was able to dig something up on the internet about Hastings.

"Anything else?" Nate was giving me the opportunity to end this information exchange but I still had another question.

"Yeah. Just one, well actually two. First did you actually wire the money to Hastings account. Two. How did you get the security video to show Hastings moving the painting? He didn't move the painting, Parker did right?"

"I did!" Parker was quick to answer taking credit for her work.

"Yes, Parker did take the painting but," Nate had began the sentence but handed the explanation over to Hardison.

"It was simple, you see all I had to do.." Hardsion was showing me something on his laptop while giving his detailed explanation. I assumed it was how he fixed the video, but I was not able to keep up.

"Never mind." I stopped him in the middle of his techno-babble. "I'll take your word for it. I'm pretty beat and this isn't soaking in right now." In fear of another onset of techno-babble I decided not to push about the money wire, and I was beginning to think I didn't want to know what they actually done or where they got the money.

I had one last question. "So where is the original 'The Daughter's' painting?"

Thankfully Nate took over the answering again. "It is on its way back to the proper owners."

I couldn't believe that after everything to get the painting, no one from the team was going to escort the painting back to the owners. Of course I had to say something about it, "And you trust it the way you are sending it. I mean you went through all this trouble to get the painting and you're not even accompanying it?"

"Hardison's got a tracker on it, and we have it fixed to blend in" Nate smiled as he said it and I knew I didn't want to pursue this topic anymore.

It looked like Hardison was about to explain the tracker so I took the opportunity to make my exit, I was exhausted.

Standing up slowly I began, "I just don't see how you all do it every day. I'm beat, I'll see you all in the morning."

My bed never felt so good, I was beginning to think that a lot over the past few days.

In my udder exhaustion I forgot to empty my bladder before crashing, and about 2 in the morning remembered it. As I walked across the hall to my bathroom I heard a conversation coming from the living room. I could recognize Nate's voice, but not the other two voices, a man and a women. I made my way slowly down the hall trying not to make a noise and peered around the corner to see Nate in front of a laptop that had an older couple on it with 'The Daughter's' painting. I could barely understand them for their accent, but I could make out that they were expressing gratitude. Nate was smiling and nodding, and said, "It's what we do, we help, and we are glad that we were able to help you." I assumed that the couple on the screen were the original owners of the painting.

At that moment I realized why they did what they did, and how they could do it every day. I barely helped on this job and hearing the gratitude of the owners, made all the restless nights and pain worth every minute of it. Without saying a word I walked back down the hall, finished my business and went fast asleep.


	9. Chapter 9

Author's Note: This is it, the final chapter. Yes you will noticed that I borrowed a line from 'The Wedding Job'. I felt it was necessary to have a closing instead of just ending with the end of the con. Since the setting is mid season 2, but I wrote this post season 2 I was able to hint toward the finale, so fair warning that this chapter does contain an indirect spoiler if you have not seen the season 2 finale. Since this is the last chapter I want to thank you for taking the time to read the creations of my mind. I also want to give a shout out to my mom whom I have made read every chapter, in the hopes of getting her hooked on Leverage. It is slowly working. Also a thank you and a sorry, depending on how you look at it, to the couple of coworkers/leverage fans that have got the preview of the story and listened to the brainstorming of my imagination when ideals hit me at work. It has been fun. Again I used line breaks to express a passage in time, also I did the thing with not crediting the dialogue, but it is still when the conversation is between 2 characters. ENJOY:)

Disclaimer: I do not own Leverage or The Daughter's painting I have just used them to make the creations of my VERY ACTIVE imagination come to life.

Chapter 9

Is that bacon? I wondered as I awoke to the pleasant smell of maple. I got up quickly to investigate the smell. I entered my kitchen to find Eliot creating something that smelled delicious.

"Wow. I didn't know you could cook." I am sure that I sounded a bit surprised.

"What? Did you think all I could do was bust heads?" Eliot jokingly replied, at least I hope he was joking. He was smiling.

I found this amusing. "Seriously, you live your life on the run."

Eliot interrupted. "Use to. Use to live my life on the run."

"Ok, you USE to live on the run, and you learned to cook?" I leaned over and grabbed one of his creations and tasted it, "And can cook well at that. Mom lived on the run and can't stand microwavable food. What is it with food and thieves?"

" I actually spent some time as a culinary apprentice. Your mom on the other hand is a special case" He concluded with a smile.

"I can agree. How much longer do you think it's gonna be?"

"About 30 minutes. Why?"

"Perfect, that will give me time to take a shower." After stealing another creation I headed to take a shower.

Everyone crammed together in my kitchen for breakfast, a few at the bar, and the rest at the table. Mom immediately begin questioning how I felt as soon as she entered. I could have swore that she came in my room last night and placed her hand in front of my mouth to make sure I was breathing, like she did when I was a child. "Morgan, how is your arm this morning, are you keeping ice on it and keeping it elevated?"

"I'm fine mom, it's just bruised. It's nowhere near as bad as the time I had that rough landing skydiving." Oops.

"When did you go skydiving?" She had that worried look in her eyes again.

I tried to play a combination of Nate's trick and a Twix commercial. With a full mouth I murmured, "Hum?"

Hardison came to my rescue by changing the subject, "Hey guys, we need to be finishing up. Our flight leaves in 3 hours."

"You're leaving already?" Mom sounded a bit upset, after all this was her family that was leaving.

"Yeah, we were just here for the painting, we have another job lined up that we need to get started on." You could tell by the tone in Nate's voice that this was awkward for him as well.

"Oh. Ok. Yes of course, I just didn't." Mom trailed off with her sentence then ended with, "Never mind."

It was an awkward moment of silence, that had been building over the morning. Everyone got up to get ready to leave. Even though she was staying, mom made an exit as well. Nate, Eliot and I were the only ones left in the kitchen. I could tell something was wrong with mom and I needed to find out what so I followed her to her room and found her sitting on the edge of her bed.

"Knock, knock. Can I come in?" I tried to act childlike, anything to make mom smile.

Looking up mom motioned for me to join her. "Yes, please do."

I sat down beside her and hugged her. "What's wrong?" I pushed.

"I don't know Morgan. I feel torn. I thought I didn't know who I was. That's why I left, but now I think I am more confused than I was. I feel like I am cutting you short if I am with them, but when I am with them I feel..." Mom stopped mid-sentence like she was at a loss for words.

"You feel like you belong." I knew what words fit there. Mom looked over with tears in her eyes and hugged me. She had always given me advice and guidance. Now it was my turn.

"Mom, you belong with them. I could tell it the moment you entered with the groceries the other day. You need them and frankly they need you. Look if you stayed in this town you would shop and take in shows, maybe audition for a show but it would become routine, like always, and you would move somewhere else and repeat the cycle. You would be unhappy, you know that. As far as me, you're there when I need you and I know I can call you anytime. I'm going to be graduating soon, chances are I will be staying at the museum, but I have expressed interest in traveling so they may send me out as an art scout, so I will be fine." I told her this knowing that she would go back to them, one day.

" I don't know if I am ready to go back." Mom choked out between silent tears.

"Then don't, not just yet. Go visit aunt Jesslyn next week like you were planning, then go on that helicopter tour you've always wanted to, then decided. If you're ready to go back then do, if not don't, do something else if you want to, or come back here, just do what makes you happy."

"They need a grifter, I don't know how much longer they can work with Tara, they just don't seem to click." Mom answered trying to come up with a reason to convince herself to go with them.

"No, but it's Tara. She is one of those people that you don't like at first, but she grows on you. I think they will be ok with her until you return. Besides they have proven if they need you they know how to find you." I tried to encourage her to do what was best for her and not what she thought she 'had' to do.

There was another knock at the door, this time it was Nate. He was hesitant with his words. "Hey. Soph. We've got to be um.." with a gesture of his hand point back toward the door he left his sentence incomplete.

"Oh. Yeah" Mom and I stood up. Without a word I left to give them a chance to talk. I entered the living room to find everyone else ready to go. It was time to say goodbye to my mom's 'other' family.

Tara was the closest to me, noticing she had her luggage. I went to give her a hug. As we hugged I asked, "So you're leaving with them?" When Tara had came for a visit she had not said how long she was going to stay.

"Yeah, I don't think your mom is ready to go back, and I still owe her, and trust me they can not do without a grifter."

"Ok, just be careful, and come back anytime."

Next in line was Parker. I had not had the chance to get to know her over the past few days, she seemed the most odd, almost crazy like. We stood apart. "Well, it was nice to meet you Parker."

and I quickly made my way to Hardison whom greeted me with a hug.

"Hey anytime you wanna learn how to do that thing with the video just let me know."

Without any intention of ever calling Hardison to learn about the 'video thing' I answered, "I'll keep that in mind."

Lastly I move on to Eliot. I had gained a new respect for him since we first met. With a hug I let him know that my thoughts about him had changed. "You know you're not so bad."

"Well. What can I say" Eliot responded with a smile.

"I said not SO bad." we shared a small laugh. I then turned the conversation to a more serious note, asking for a favor. "She's gonna come back to you all, not today, but one day when you really need her she's gonna show up. Just when she does..."

Eliot completed my sentence and accepted the favor, "I'll take care of her, don't worry."

I took comfort knowing that I could trust Eliot to keep his word.

"Is everyone ready?" Mom and Nate had entered the living room. Nate made his way toward the door which was where I was standing. Mom was saying her goodbyes to everyone.

"Morgan, I want to thank you for helping us out and letting us stay here." Nate began.

"Like I said when you all arrived. Any friend of my mother's is welcomed at my house."

"Yeah, but I know it still put you out of your comfort zone." I saw Nate look over at mom saying her goodbyes.

"Give her time Nate. She's always been romantically challenged, she's been burned and is use to relying on herself, but she likes you, give her time and she'll come around. Just treat her right because if you ever hurt her I will make your death look like an accident."

With a smile, he said, "Got it."

Mom completed her goodbyes and everyone was gathered at the door.

"Are you sure you all don't need a ride to the airport?" I offered not knowing how I would fit them all in my vehicle. They nodded indicating no. "Then it was nice to meet all of you, have a safe trip home."

We exchanged waves and they went out the door. After shutting the door, it was time to get back to reality. Mom was sitting on the couch, I plopped down beside her, "You know what you need?"

"What?" she sounded like she had just taken a beating

"Some new shoes, and Lord knows I could use some rocky road ice cream after this weekend. Let's go shopping." I knew this was an offer she could resist.

The rest of the day was just like always, mom and I spent the day shopping for shoes, clothes, and anything else we could buy and ended the night by taking in a play and drinks after.

(SCENE: AT A BAR&GRILL)

"You're right." Mom stated while we were waiting on our drinks.

"Of course I am, but what about?"

"That I should go see Jesslyn, and maybe take that helicopter tour. If they need me they can contact me and I can always go back whenever I want to."

"Exactly. Are you going to stick to your original plans and fly out tomorrow afternoon?" I question trying to outline my week in my head.

"I think so. Is that too soon? I know we didn't get to have too much time together."

"It's fine. Remember on Wednesday we are getting started on the next big project, I'm scheduled to work extended hours and I'm sure there will be several meetings after the events of the weekend."

"Is there any chance that you will get into any trouble over this?" Mom got that panicked look on her face when she remembered that even though the con was over I would be going back to the museum.

"No. I've done talked to Dr. Grant, everything is fine. He never liked Hastings anyway so if even he thought I was involved he would have helped cover it." I assured her.

Mom and I had such a good time and 2pm of the following day came entirely too fast. I drove mom to the airport and went with her as far as I could, then I went and watched out the window until her plan took off. Like a child I waved at her plane as it took off, knowing she couldn't see me but it still felt right.

I returned to an empty, quite apartment, it felt weird, but it didn't take long to get over it. I was excited that I didn't have to go into the museum until Wednesday and was going to get to sleep in for the first time in a while. With my pajamas on I settled down on the couch and turned on a movie. I didn't know what I was watching all I could think about was mom.

Mom had finally found her place in this world, a family, and someone to love her, and with those thoughts I drifted into a peaceful sleep.

THE END


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